'Nothing in life... signifies failure better than fat'

The 42-year-old producer and writer, who flung herself into the public eye last year by claiming she was too sexy for her own sex, is back making equally absurd statements. And again she is winning when it comes to conjuring up public wrath and publicity.

Whether she is a delusional Blanche Dubois or a shameless self-promoter she certainly knows how to cause a stir. The backlash following her last set of proclamations was world-wide, but she also nabbed numerous television appearances and a book deal. Head Over Heels In France, her comical for-all-the-wrong-reasons memoir was released in April.

Now, coinciding with the release of the book, Brick is back courting controversy.

"I am 42 years old and have been on a permanent diet for the past 30 years," she said. "The logic is simple and irrefutable: any self-respecting woman wants to be thin, and to be thin you need to spend your life on a diet."

She revealed that she had recently poured coffee dregs over an "expensive box of hand-made French chocolates" lest she be tempted to eat them and explained that her husband "would not tolerate a fat wife and has told me that if I put on weight, our marriage is over".

Deeply sad and shallow as this may be, the clincher was her final sentence.

"The world admonished Kate Moss for claiming that 'nothing tastes as good as skinny feels' but I'd go further," she said. "As I see it, there is nothing in life that signifies failure better than fat."

Naturally, the blog was divisive and sparked outrage. But Brick blundered on, appearing on Britain's This Morning show on Monday to defend herself.

In a debate with body image campaigner, Natasha Devon, Brick not only insisted that being thin is being beautiful, she said that the biggest threat to mankind isn't North Korea or terrorism it is being fat.

"We do have a massive problem in this country with obesity. 66 per cent of the population are obese and 25 per cent of 4 and 5 year olds are overweight, it is a massive issue."

Devon's response: "There are hundreds of ways to be gorgeous. We believe that healthy and confident is beauty, and healthy and confident means different things to different people.

"We are not all born to be skinny.

"Women who are confident and rock their own brand of gorgeous are much more attractive.

"Some people let being thin take over their life. I don't know much about your life Samantha but it seems that you can't let go and enjoy yourself so I actually feel very sorry for you."

It seemed most of the viewers agreed, with 94 per cent believing that Samantha's opinion is dangerous and that we should focus on being healthy and happy.

Unsurprisingly, Brick was remorseless. "Every woman who voted against me during the debate needs to take a long hard look at the digits on their scales," she told the MailOnline.

"I stand by my position that fat is failure. Every time someone eats more than they need they are failing themselves, their children and society - by assuming someone else will pick up the health tab for their eating habits."

Brick is right about one thing. Obesity is indeed a problem. Nearly 64 per cent of Australians aged 18 and over are either overweight or obese. This statistic is slightly higher than in Brick's native Britain. But shaming women (or men) into believing that unless they conform to some cookie-cutter standard of beauty they are a failure is about as far removed from a solution as Brick seems to be from reality.